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Antibiotic-resistant superbugs may be stopped by herbal medicine, says article in New Connexion Journal.

Portland, Ore. (PRWEB)April 02, 2014

Antibiotic-resistant infections are alarmingly on the rise, and many people are looking for sound information on herbal alternatives to standard antibiotics.

In September 2013, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a significant status report on antibiotic resistant bacteria. In a major departure from past practices, they are now issuing “threat level alerts” based on the danger levels of particular bacteria.

The three most dangerous, they note, are gonorrhea, Clostridium difficile (C-diff) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), of which there are numerous types. Every year, over two million are infected with these bacteria, often in hospitals, and the numbers are growing exponentially: the CDC estimates 23,000 deaths per year. (http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013)

Perhaps if antibiotic use had been restrained, the problems would have been minor, according to Stephen Harrod Buhner, author of Herbal Antibiotics and Herbal Antivirals, in an article published in New Connexion Journal.

Rise of Bacterial Resistance

The amount of pure antibiotics being dumped into the environment is unprecedented in evolutionary history. And that has had tremendous impacts on the bacterial communities of Earth, and the bacteria have set about solving the problem they face very methodically. Just like humans, they want to survive, and just like humans, they are very adaptable, according to Buhner.

The difficulties are dire — the world's population cannot escape the emergence of pharmaceutically untreatable, and very serious, diseases in communities. These diseases will not be limited to isolated individuals but will instead be widespread epidemics of tremendous virulence. And those epidemics will not come only from the organisms currently known — more types of resistant bacteria (and viruses) are emerging yearly.

Plant Saviors

There are alternatives, however, to the pharmaceuticals that once seemed saviors and are now humanity's bane, because bacteria do not develop resistance to plant medicines.

Plants have developed sophisticated responses to bacterial invasion over millions of years — the complex compounds within plants work in complex synergy with each other and are designed to deactivate and destroy invading pathogens through multiple mechanisms.

According to Buhner, some of the most potent plant antibacterials are:

Honey: now standard practice medicine in the United Kingdom for surgical wounds infected with resistant organisms, active against all known strains and species.

As the bacteria continue to evolve, so must humanity. Oddly enough, with the drive for technological superiority over nature, it is nature itself and its bountiful, renewable medicines that offer the best hope. Plants are the people’s medicine.